Barcelona set for their least favourite La Liga away game

Real Madrid’s 2-1 victory away to Real Sociedad last night enabled them to open up a four-point lead over Barcelona, meaning that the champions cannot afford a second successive league stumble this evening.

Unfortunately for Pep Guardiola’s men, who were stunned 2-0 at home by Hercules last week, they travel to the Vicente Calderon to face 100 per cent record holding Atletico Madrid.

While the Catalan club head into the clash as 8/11favourites, they’ve taken three points on just one of their last eight league visits, and have gone home empty-handed in each of the last three seasons.

To put the hold the Europa League winners appear to have over Barcelona when playing in front of their own fans into context, the title favourites have picked up more points on their last two trips to the Bernabeu than their last eight to the Calderon!

This was the only league fixture they lost last term and the odds of 4/1 offered on Diego Forlan and co again haunting them looks very tempting, especially given Atletico’s impressive opening to the campaign.

Tonight’s televised Serie A match between Sampdoria and Napoli is less likely to provide a shock. The Partenopei are yet to record a league win and were held at home by FC Utrecht in the Europa League.

Sampdoria, by contrast, have started impressively despite the loss of coach Luigi Del Neri, beating Lazio and holding his new side Juventus in Turin.

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